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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Don't let the "Weddings" in the name keep you away, this blog is full of eye candy, great ideas and links to free downloads for all occasions, not just weddings. Go to the right column and click on "Free Downloads" to get gift labels, wrap around address labels, printable cards, and my favorite, vintage poison labels! (so fun for Halloween!) If you do happen to be planning a wedding though, there are tons of great ideas for that as well. Click HERE.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Saturday, April 25, 2009

These key racks caught my eye- pretty, simple, and a great DIY project! If you're not confident in your painting abilities, I bet there are good stencils for something like this, or you could ModPodge some pretty scrapbook paper or something. Then just screw in your little hooks and it's good to go. Or you could just go buy one from CUT+PASTE. I saw them on Creature Comforts.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Monday, April 20, 2009

I'm in a food funk- what are you having for dinner? What do you eat for lunch? That one is really hard for me. I'm getting sick of everything and need some new ideas! I saw this great idea from NannyGoat to collect your family's top 30 recipes and put them on laminated recipe cards on a ring, then you pull out the ones you want each week and put them on your fridge- really cute idea. For better instructions and even a recipe card you can download, click HERE.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

What a great idea- a little tripod that goes on your water bottle! I immediatly had to check if my little camera had a "tripod socket" and it does. I can't think of a better $10 gift. Go get yours from Photojojo HERE.

Also, check out this great idea for recycling cardboard rolls into little circle frames. You could wrap some scrapbook paper around them to make them pretty- I can see a cool collage for Miss B's room...

Friday, April 17, 2009

I can't wait to go through the 101 DIY Project ideas from the Stylish Events blog! Check it out HERE. They are all wedding related, but a lot can be used for other things and they'll certainly inspire you. And Creature Comforts made some cute labels you can use as treat bag toppers or stick on labels- get those HERE. And finally, Little Birdie Secrets has a list of great Teacher Appreciation gift ideas HERE. I really like the idea of decorating up a bottle of hand sanitzer! The one below is from Poppy Paperie.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Charlie has picked up a couple of unfortunate nick-names from his sisters, including "Char-Char" and "The Boy." It's never a good day when your baby turns one! And my camera batteries were dying so I only have a few grainy pictures. We went really simple for his first birthday, I guess that's what happens when you're the fourth baby to turn one in your family. And your mom is suffering from allergies. (he is too, poor thing!) Luckily some cousins showed up just in time for cake so when he grows up and sees pictures he will assume he actually had a party!I made the puppy cake from Family Fun in about 5 minutes but the kids seemed pretty happy with it. We were limited to the decorating supplies that our Walmart Market had, since I ran to the store while the cake was in the oven. Miss E didn't think the cake was big enough.

I can't believe I'm showing the picture of it! I tried desperately to crop out my messy kitchen.

We've probably gone 2 months without a drop of rain here but on our Saturday Easter picnic/parade/egg hunt day it decides to pour! Luckily Mimi and Papa offered their house and there was a great brunch and indoor egg hunt. Miss B found the silver egg with $10 and everyone ate candy all day. (and went through sugar withdrawls all day Sunday.) I made my traditional bunny cake and it was the cutest one yet- did I get any pictures? No. I finished Miss B's skirt, no pictures yet. We were rushing out the door late to church Sunday and I had left my camera at Sam's parents house so no pictures again.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

I confess- I have loads of wheat in my long term storage, but I never use it. I ground it up once and tried to bake bread, but it didn't turn out very good, and I tried to sprout some wheat grass for my Easter centerpiece but the birds ate it all- every last piece! But storing wheat and other grains makes sense because it is so cheap, nutritious and stores well for a long time. I was pointed to a great blog that helps de-mystify different grains and cooking with them. Check out the Good Lookin' Cook HERE and get excited about working grains into your family's diet! My brain is on overload right now from trying "new-ish" things like sewing and gardening, that cooking with grains seems a little overwhelming, but I was thrilled to see her instructions for canning butter! Yes you can have real BUTTER to put on that homemade bread you'll make with your year supply! Who knew? For easy to follow instructions click HERE. Thanks Kara for sharing your knowledge!

Finished Miss E's dress and it was more gratifying than the first one because it was a lot easier! She is thrilled with it. And notice her new hair cut- she chopped off a chunk last week so we got it fixed. (though she kept telling Beth her aunt/stylist that she wanted it how SHE cut it) Now onto the skirt for Miss B- hopefully the fastest and easiest yet!

Monday, April 06, 2009

...but I found the best sewing blog- Sew Mama Sew and I can't stop looking! I was just trying to find a simple tutorial for sewing a girls skirt so I didn't have to go buy a pattern for Miss B and stumbled onto hundreds of great ideas involving sewing or crafting with fabric- many you don't even need a sewing machine for! Check out the list of Easter ideas HERE.

I totally forgot about food storage Friday until I saw this recipe- a yummy chocolate cake that you can make all from stored ingredients- no eggs! You can go read all the good reviews on All Recipes HERE. I want to try it this week with some chocolate chips mixed in- yum!

Sift flour, sugar, salt, soda, and cocoa together into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased cake pan. Make three wells. Pour oil into one well, vinegar into second, and vanilla into third well. Pour cold water over all, and stir well with fork.Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Frost with your favorite icing.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

I'm not sure that I can say it was worth all the time and work, but I finally finished Miss G's dress and besides the off center back zipper, I am quite happy with it! I really like the colors on her, and am anxious to get going on Miss E's dress tonight. It looks easier, we'll see if I can do it in less than 15 hours this time...

Friday, April 03, 2009

So I saw that the lovely (and hilarious) Sarah made her little boys cute little neckties and that got me thinking, Charlie needs a tie! I wonder if I could make one, if I ever finish the girls dresses I think I will give it a try. I found this cute etsy shop with some nice ones though: And though I don't need them, I had to share her super cute little booties!

Family Fun is having a "Recycled Crafts" contest on their website- go vote for my sister's baby food jar snowmen HERE! They are so cute, I've wanted to copy them for a while and I'm so excited she entered them in the contest! Do you have a cute recycled craft idea- it's not too late to enter, and you can vote every day. If I can think of something good (and actually do it) I may enter too!

the wannabe-crafter

I really like to make stuff: food, cards, scrapbooks, sewing projects, crafts, etc, but finding the time to actually DO those things without neglecting my home, husband, and kids is difficult! I love Dr. Pepper with a passion, and my husband Sam too! (and I use way too many exclamation points when typing!)